CONTRIBUTING FACTORS

Cause or Effect? The burdens of early childbearing
on disadvantaged teens are undeniable. Trying to untangle the factors which
contribute to teenage pregnancy from its effects, however, leads to a
"which came first, the chicken or the egg?" dilemma. Educational
failure, poverty, unemployment and low self-esteem are understood to be negative
outcomes of early childbearing. These circumstances also contribute to the
likelihood of teen pregnancy. For example, recent studies suggest that most
adolescent mothers have already dropped out of school before they become
pregnant. On the other hand, adolescents still enrolled in school when they
give birth are as likely to graduate as their peers. It is not clear how well
the adolescents with the most problems would have fared in the future even
without early parenthood.

Following
are some of the contributing factors or causes of teenage pregnancy:

1) Lack of Parental Guidance: Most people evade
their children from talking about sex. In some cases, they provide false
information regarding sex and discourage their children to participate in any
informative discussion about sex. In some cases, teenage mothers are not well
educated about sex before getting pregnant and thus this leads to lack of
communication between the parents and the children.

2) Adolescent Sexual Behavior: Among the
adolescents, peer pressure is a major factor that encourages the teenage boys
and girls to indulge in sexual activities. Early dating, as early as 12 years
of age, is another factor that contributes to teen pregnancy.
3) Inadequate Knowledge about Safe Sex: Most
adolescents are unaware of safe sex. They probably have no access to the
traditional methods of preventing pregnancy. And the main reason behind is that
they are either too embarrassed or fear to seek information about it.
4) Exploitation by Older Men: This is another
major factor that contributes to pregnancy among the teenagers. Those girls who
date older men are more likely to become pregnant before they attain womanhood.
Rape, sexual exploitations etc. also takes place that leads to unwanted
pregnancy among teenage girls.

5) Socio Economic Factors: Teenage girls who
belong to the poor families are more likely to become pregnant. Researchers
have found that even in the developed countries teenage pregnancy occurs most
commonly among the deprived sections.